Chapter 229: The Bear Crosses the River

Chapter 229:
The Bear Crosses the River

 

SANYA PULLED OUT A RAINCOAT from her item bag. As for me, my bear gear would combat the rain. I didn’t need one.

“Are you sure you’re all right in the rain?” Sanya asked me.

“My clothes are specialized, so I’m good.” I explained that as we left. Even though the rain was really coming down, it couldn’t soak into my bear onesie—the rainwater was repelled.

“What kind of material is this? There’s a lot of water-resistant materials, but I don’t know any of them that feel like your clothes.”

I had no idea, since that god had made it for me. It probably didn’t even exist in this world. The onesie was pretty unique in a lot of ways—it could come out unscathed even after I’d been attacked, and it helped me regenerate my mana.

Sanya gave my bear gear an odd look. “Well, enough of that. Let’s get going.”

She told me that there were two ways of getting there: we could go to the wharf in the town, or we could leave through the gate and head out of town first.

Going directly to the wharf would be the fastest. There wouldn’t be a lot of people by the riverside, with all this rain. We ran through the downpour to the wharf.

 

Just as expected, no one was around. No one was going to sail a boat into this kind of weather, and there probably wouldn’t be people coming out here for curiosity’s sake either.

When we reached the river, we saw a huge boat rocking in the waves, big enough to fit several carriages—it was the one they’d told me about earlier. I’d wanted to take a ride in it, but I guess I’d have to wait till next time.

The river was wide and swelling with massive waves. I could see the town on the other side, but that didn’t mean it was really that close.

“What now?” said Sanya. “We’re not actually swimming, are we?”

I had only one answer to that: “We’re crossing on Kumayuru and Kumakyu.”

“We’re crossing on your bears?”

We were. “My bears are special.”

Sanya seemed puzzled, but at least she accepted my explanation. “I suppose they’re your summons, after all,”

Yeah, I’d already shown her my summons weren’t any normal bears. They had more speed and stamina than horses, and they could even alert us to any lurking monsters. Plus, they could shrink. What was a little walking on water when we already had that kind of list? Didn’t seem like a big deal, if you asked me.

 

I used my Detection skill to make sure the coast was clear, then summoned my bears. The poor guys were positively pummeled by the rain and wind.

“Sorry for bringing you into this, but we need to get to that shore!”

They crooned in response, giving me a confident, we-got-this kind of look.

“Cool. Well, Sanya, let’s get to it!” I got on Kumayuru, Sanya got on Kumakyu, and my bears started carrying us to the shore with us. Beneath us, the river raged.

“Are you sure we’ll be okay, Yuna?” Sanya gave the muddy maelstrom beneath us a worried look.

I couldn’t blame her for being freaked out—not when the river seemed so downright feral. And we were running across the top of it? Yeah, I got where she was coming from.

“Do you want to stay here instead?” I’d lose my guide, but I could deal.

“I-I’m fine.”

She super did not look fine, so I gave her some advice. “In that case, just hang onto Kumakyu as hard as you can and close your eyes. We’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”

“I trust you, Kumakyu...”

“Cwoom~” Kumakyu gave her a reassuring reply. Sanya kept a tight hold of my bear.

“All right. Let’s roll!” I gave the signal, and my bears rushed for the river.

Sanya was yelling, but I ignored her.

Once the bears were on top of the water, they started galloping along the rapids. They weren’t about to get swept downstream. Driftwood tumbled toward us, but my bears leapt over them and weaved around them, gracefully navigating the muddy current.

It felt like an obstacle race…or at least, it reminded me of the ones I’d seen on TV. We crossed over the waves, avoided the driftwood, and ran toward the other side, all while the waves pushed us back.

“Yuna! What happens if we fall?!”

“I guess we’d be swept away.” Why was she asking something so obvious?

Sanya tightened her grip on Kumakyu at that. She should have known from our trip over that she wouldn’t fall off—it didn’t matter how tightly or loosely she held on. Still, she was holding onto Kumakyu for dear life.

 

After a while, we caught sight of the other wharf.

We’d crossed in a couple of minutes. That’s the power of my bears.

I used my Detection skill to check for any witnesses before we got to the shore—nope, we were good. I got off Kumayuru.

As for Sanya, she dismounted Kumakyu and immediately sunk to the ground. That was a sure way to get wet. Then again, she was wearing a raincoat thingie? She’d be fine.

Probably.

“You good, Sanya?”

“Yes, I-I’m fine.” Wobbling a little, Sanya stood. “We actually made it across…” Sanya looked back at the raging river as if to reassure herself that we’d done it. “I already knew your summons were amazing, Yuna, but…I’ve never heard of a bear that can walk on water.”

That made two of us, to be honest. I’d never heard of a story like that. “All right, we need to hurry up and get that painting.” We couldn’t just stand here forever.

“You’re right. Let’s hurry.”

I thanked my bears and recalled them, then we headed to Doglud’s shop.

 

Sanya took us to Doglud’s shop. Thanks to the rain, there weren’t many people around.

Honestly…even if they noticed me, nothing would’ve come of it. It was good that we had a guide, because we got to the shop before long. If I’d been alone, it would’ve been a lot harder.

There weren’t any customers at all inside of the shop, probably on account of the rain. I didn’t even see employees.

“Excuse me!” Sanya called into the back of the shop.

For a moment, there was only silence. Then, suddenly—

“Yes, I’ll be right there!” A woman in her mid-twenties came out. “A bear?!” Unsurprisingly, she was surprised.

“I know that’s odd, and I know that this is sudden, but she’s an adventurer that Mr. Doglud sent. We came to take the painting for Mr. Doglud,” said Sanya.

“You’re a messenger?”

C’mon, we didn’t have the time to waste! I handed the letter I’d gotten from Doglud to the woman.

“Is that an item bag?” She got another shock just from seeing the letter come out of the bear puppet’s mouth. I guess merchants have some weird priorities. Anyway, after reading the letter, she nodded to herself a few times. Finally, she smiled at me.

Because, uh…wait, why?

“I understand what’s going on,” she said, “but I still can’t believe it. This letter was supposedly written today. You traveled through all this rain?”

“You’re not doubting us, are you?”

“No, this absolutely a letter from him. I believe that part. And he says in his letter to hand over the painting upon receipt.”

What a relief. I was afraid she wouldn’t give us the painting or something after we’d come all this way. I could see it on Sanya’s face…she felt the same way.

“But I can’t help but wonder how you got here in this rain,” the woman added.

“That’s a secret,” Sanya answered for me.

“All right. Now, if you would please show me your guild cards so I can confirm your identities?”

We pulled out our guild cards and she checked them. A barely suppressed grin grew on her face after she scanned mine. “Sorry, sorry. But it looks like your class really is bear! He wrote about Ms. Sanya, the Adventurer Guild master from the capital, and Miss Yuna, the person with the bear class...”

She beamed at me.

Why couldn’t he have just written my name and that I was an adventurer like a normal person? Was the thing about my class really necessary? You’d think a merchant would have a sense of discretion!

“He also wrote that you’re dressed as a bear.”

Sanya laughed out loud at that bit. I did not like where this was headed.

“Well, I’ll get it ready,” the woman said. “If you could wait for a moment?”

You know what? It could’ve gone worse. We were basically getting the painting without issue.

“Good thing we didn’t run into any trouble,” said Sanya, echoing my thoughts.

“For sure. Now we’ll be able to get Luimin’s bracelet back, no problem.”

“Thank you so much, Yuna. Truly,” Sanya said. “I don’t have the words to thank you.”

“Long as you keep the stuff about my bears secret, don’t even worry about it.”

“Of course.”

While we were chatting away, the woman came back with a big, heavy-looking box. Sanya started helping as soon as she noticed it.

“I’m sorry,” said the woman, “thank you.”

They got the crate onto the table together.

“Is this it?” asked Sanya.

“Yes, please give this to him.”

I put the crate into my bear storage. All we had to do was deliver this, and finally, we’d be able to get Luimin’s bracelet back. Now that we had the painting, we thanked her and started heading out of the shop.

“Are you already heading back?”

“Yep. Mr. Doglud is waiting for us, after all.”

“I have no idea how you’re making your way back,” said the woman, “but I do hope you make it back safely.”

Sanya and I headed out into the rain. The rain poured relentlessly, with no sign that it’d ever up. That didn’t matter to us, though.

We ran to the river, hoping to get back to Doglud as quick as we could.